Relish Review: Zucchini bread

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There's nothing that says summer sweet treat like zucchini bread, so when I saw a recipe for the versatile bread in Relish Magazine I knew exactly what I'd be making over the weekend.

Each month, a few days before you receive Relish inside the Times-Gazette, expect to see a column previewing one of the recipes included in the upcoming insert.

(On a side note, the T-G is partnering with Relish to bring Shelbyville a very special cooking demonstration Oct. 20 at the Calsonic Arena, featuring celebrity chef Jon Ashton. Plans are already in the works, and we are very excited about this upcoming event, which promises to be an educational and entertaining event for all you foodies out there! Stay tuned for more details.)

When I saw the recipe in Relish, I was reminded that summer was quickly passing me by, and if was going to make zucchini bread, which I typically do only once a year, I'd better get busy.

Why once a year? Trust me, I could eat zucchini bread once a week, but it's not exactly the "lightest" snack in the world, so I try to limit it to once or twice a year.

Zucchini is one of those garden vegetables that grows in abundance, and if you have a garden, you know what mean. Last year, I planted one too many zucchini plants and I couldn't pay my co-workers to take it home with them after a certain point. We were all tired of eating the fibrous veggie, which contains beta-carotene, vitamin C, folic acid, calcium, potassium and phosphorus.

When this happens, make zucchini bread. It's a great way to use up some of that overbearing green vegetable, and I promise, you won't have to pay your co-workers to take this treat home.

I grew up eating zucchini bread throughout the summers of my youth. Looking back, it seems as if my mom always had a fresh loaf on the kitchen counter. Sometimes, we'd eat it for breakfast, sometimes it would serve as an afternoon snack, or other times, it was just a part of dinner.

When I moved down south, one of the first summers I was out on my own, I remember craving zucchini bread. I called my mom, retrieved her recipe, and got busy in the kitchen making zucchini bread for my Alabama in-laws, who we had planned to visit for the upcoming weekend.

I was quite proud of my first attempt to make zucchini bread, until one of my sister-in-laws burst my bubble. I'm really not sure what she was expecting (maybe wheat bread) but she took one bite of the moist sweet delight and her face cringed.

"What is this?" she said, looking as if she wanted to vomit. "Bread isn't supposed to be sweet."

There you have it ... one example of this Yankee outcast clashing with her Alabama in-laws. Because of my whiny sister-in-law I stopped making zucchini bread. I had assumed that zucchini bread was a northern thing, and I went about four years without making it.

Last year was the first time I grew my own garden, and, as previously mentioned, I had no choice but to find ways to use up my crazy zucchini. After all, my freezer was getting way too full of green and yellow (zucchini's sister, summer squash, also grows like a weed). I didn't really care if my husband liked it or not ... I was going to make zucchini bread!

As it turned out, he loved it, although he says he had never had it before (apparently he doesn't remember the Alabama incident). Give it a try, and if your spouse doesn't like it, I'll give you my in-laws' address. Your spouse will fit in nicely at their anti-zucchini bread party.

There are many versions of zucchini bread out there, and my family recipe is actually a bit different than this one, but Relish's is simple and basic, and certainly worth giving a try.

Relish's Zucchini Bread

(submitted by Cindy Kerschner, food writer, Schnecksville, Pa.)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 3/4 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini (do not drain)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.

Combine oil, sugar, eggs and zucchini in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl; gradually ad to zucchini mixture. Beat 3 minutes with mixer on medium speed. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour, or until inserted knife comes out clean. Serves 10.